I provide commentary on political economy, police and prosecutorial abuse, and whatever else might come to mind.
Let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Amos 5:24 (ESV)

Monday, June 28, 2010

The Liars' Club

Seven weeks after the “not guilty” verdict for Tonya Craft in Catoosa County, it seems that the people who spread the lies in the first place have not gone into hibernation. I have heard stories about the various players for the prosecution, and it seems that the Liars’ Club still is open for business.

Throughout the summer, I will continue to deal with the various prosecution witness and other players who made this travesty possible, and who continue to claim that the jury returned an “O.J. verdict” on Tonya’s case. Since they are continuing to push their lies, I feel no obligation to back off and stop exposing them.

This post is named “The Liars’ Club,” as I name some (or maybe most) of the players for the prosecution and give a lie or two that they told. Since some of these people lied under oath or helped to fabricate prosecution documents in the middle of the trial, or they suborned perjury, then perhaps a better title would be “The Felon’s Club,” but since the “justice” system in the State of Georgia works overtime to protect the worst that seem to get on top, I doubt any of them will find themselves in criminal court. Nonetheless, even though they won’t meet the official bar of justice, nonetheless, I believe there is a need to tell others what these lawless and dishonest people have done.

To name the worst villain of this sorry story would be impossible, so I will name them in alphabetical order. Here they are:

Christopher Arnt: This is a man who clearly spits on the word, “integrity.” Early on, he told the attorneys for Tonya Craft that he did not have exculpatory evidence in his possession, when, in fact, he did. However, his lying did not stop with pre-trial activities. Arnt participated in the fabrication of evidence, having ex parte meetings with “judge” Brian House, and engaging in disruptive actions throughout the trial. But, this Super Liar was not satisfied with lying just during the trial. No, he told the jury some whoppers during his closing arguments (which the jurors, thankfully, resented), and then told Channel 9 that his “Facebook” page (in which he used a public forum to make disparaging remarks about Ms. Craft and her counsel – which clearly violates Georgia State Bar rules for prosecutors) had been “hacked.” Right.

Tim “Dirty” Deal: In the early stages of this whole affair, Deal seemed to have some healthy skepticism, but by the trial, he was ready to commit perjury and worse. After the “hand rape” allegations that had appeared nowhere in discovery, the prosecution was in trouble, but Deal came to the rescue. Suddenly, like magic, a fresh document appeared in his files substantiating this claim. So, not only was Deal willing to commit perjury, but also was willing to break the law by fabricating documents. Lucky he committed his crimes in the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit, where prosecutors, judges, and people wearing badges don’t have to worry about obeying the law.

Laurie Evans: One of the most amazing things in the world today is the fact that people still are stupid enough to entrust their children to “therapy” given by Evans. While under oath, she told one whopper after another, including her claim that she never had been treated for mental illness, and that Accuser #1 (who was coloring in an interview session with a yellow crayon) freaked out over yellow, and that the attorneys were purposely wearing yellow while the child was on the stand.

Len Gregor: Oh, yes, THE MAN. The man who declared that Tonya Craft is lying “when her lips are moving,” a phrase that is more applicable to Gregor and his dirty partner, Arnt. Let’s look at just a few of his lies, given that there is not enough byte space in the universe to cover everything falsehood he told in those sorry four weeks. Gregor was the point man in the fabrication of the “hand rape” document, and even had the temerity to accuse the defense of lying when, in fact, he knew all along that Deal had fabricated the bogus document. The man who literally is “paid by the accused child molester” declared that he was not “paid by the child molester.” During the monologue that masqueraded as his “cross examination” of Tonya Craft, a number of us following the proceedings on Twitter kept asking when the guy was going to ask a question of substance. Of course, he never did, but given that one can tell when Gregor is lying (whenever his lips are moving), he was incapable of uttering anything intelligent AND honest. Maybe that is why he closed with some really stupid analogies about fishing lures. Oh, and here is a guy that suborned perjury claiming that some of the most distinguished and respected expert witnesses in the country were “whores of the court” and “liars.”

Joal Henke: The trial of Tonya Craft did wonders for Joal Henke’s memories, as he “just happened to remember” while walking to the courthouse about an alleged incident involving his ex-wife, something that, surprise, surprise, had not been entered into evidence. However, given that the proceedings were nothing but a kangaroo court, this obviously contrived “incident” was entered into the record. Unfortunately, Henke did not have such a good memory when the defense attorneys asked him about his extra-marital activities.

Sarah Bass Henke: From the woman whose peculiar habit of showering with Tonya’s (then) six-year-old daughter and having the child help her to shave in certain places, we got even more lies. Henke told the court that the only reason that she was showering with the child was that the girl was being mistreated and neglected at Tonya’s place and was showing up at her father’s house “dirty” and having “matted hair.” Of course, she also denied under oath what she already had admitted in another proceeding – that she had Tonya’s daughter help her shave in private places. But, when the prosecution is suborning perjury in the LMJC (which occurs when prosecutors’ lips are moving), should we be surprised that people like Sarah Bass Henke will tell the truth? (On her Facebook page, Henke had a number of Bible verses. However, she had nothing from Proverbs 6:16-19, and somehow, that does not surprise me.

“judge” Brian House: None of this parade of perjury could have been possible without the efforts of perhaps the worst “judge” in the USA. From unreported ex parte meetings with prosecutors to his eagerness to let prosecutors bring in perjured testimony, House made sure that the juries would receive as many lies as possible, and he actively worked to keep the truth out. Oh, and I am sure that the jurors saw Arnt making hand signals to House to show him what to do next.

Sandra Lamb: The charter member and president-for-life of the Liars’ Club managed to put on a performance of perjury that even her own daughter could not match. (That is right; since Lamb and her daughter most likely were the ones who decided to dream up the “hand rape” incident, I have no doubt that the child knew she had not been molested, but also knew that if she said what Sandra and the people at the Children’s Advocacy Center wanted, she would be treated like a queen.) From her statement that her daughter had not received acting lessons (“judge” House refused to permit the defense to enter a document that proved Lamb was lying) to her pushing of the “hand rape” lie, Lamb started lying early and often. For good measure, she even lied last year about her encounter with Eric Echols.

Suzi Thorne: Here is another prosecution witness who benefitted from the Arnt-Gregor “recovered memories” seminar, as she “suddenly remembered” the “hand rape” incident that never did pass the smell test. From her manipulative interview with Tonya’s daughter (in which she used all of the police interrogation tactics that are absolutely criminal to use on a six-year-old girl) to the lies she told on the stand, one can see that Thorne has learned from the “testilying” course that police officers apparently take as requirement for wearing the badge.

There were plenty of other liars, but this is a good start, and a reminder that people who followed the Tonya Craft trial actually witnessed a crime wave. The crimes were committed by people who are officers of the court or who were under oath, but lying at the direction of the prosecutors and, to be frank, “judge” House.

Because I will not have Internet access for much of the week, I will be posting periodically. However, because Tonya has a custody hearing next month, the issues surrounding this case and especially Joal Henke’s lack of veracity are very much alive. Have a great week!

Don't forget, Tonya and David Craft will be guests on "The View" Tuesday morning at 11.

42 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Are you saying defense attorneys never put on witnesses who lie? Sometimes they do it willingly. Other times, a dead-bang guilty client means there is no other way. The Tonya Craft trial was a role reversal compared to other trials I have seen.

Tonya Craft's attorneys did have the facts and Arndt and Gregor were putting on witnesses with improbable stories. It must be said that defense attorneys are allowed to concoct wild stories while prosecutors are not supposed to.

The judge in this affair needs to be voted off the bench, but I'm afraid it won't happen. Arndt and Gregor will hopefully find out that media scrutiny isn't what they hoped it would be.

This club of liars certainly seems to be very content their criminal acts will never come to justice, Bill. Perhaps, they think the lack of notoriety since the media attention moved elsewhere after the trial has made their actions nothing more than a minor blip on the radar. I fully believe these people never think about the upcoming consequences of their actions. They're probably hanging out together creating a whole new set of lies to get rid of that pesky civil lawsuit, in the hopes they'll soon make the talk show circuit and make lots of lovely money when they sue TC for their own version of retribution. I do hope justice catches up to them in the near future. The idea of Laurie Evans having any contact with young children is far scarier than any third rate slasher flick. But imagining Chris Arnt, Len Gregor, and Brian House participating in other trials is far worse. It's time to get rid of this group of fools, and their more than willing hangers on.

If we was to rank them as worst of the worst I would consider Tim Deal, if not #1 at least worthy of honorable mention. He was the gentlemen, who when Tonya was late for an interview, decided on his own that Ms. Craft was unworthy of custody.

Yes, they are all a bunch of liars. I have known this for five years. When my son had his second bond hearing after 64 days in jail, and it became obvious that bond was going to be granted, Len Gregor threw in a perjury (imagine that) charge to try and keep him in jail. He claimed that my son lied at his first bond hearing that he had a job waiting on him, when he was released. Gregor based this on the fact that he (Gregor) knew that Jason's job had fired him, shortly after his arrest. However, Jason didn't know this, as the termination letter came to our house and we didn't tell him. He had enough to deal with at the time. So, he didn't lie at the hearing, he just didn't know. Considering all the lies they told, it was funny to watch them throw in that charge. It was added to the charges, but it didn't stop bond from being granted.

Tim Deal also told lies at Jason's preliminary hearing, again imagine that. He stated the doctors hadn't been told of a previous injury which might have made the injury from the fall worse, but they were told. Also, and this is how smart the medical examiner was, he said, per Tim Deal on the stand, that the child couldn't have had cradle cap, as she was too old and that those were abrasions on her head. She did indeed have cradle cap, which was documented in her medical records and she was being treated for it.

Part 1I work with prosecutors, police and mental health professionals every day. I cannot, literally cannot, imagine one of the professionals I work with doing anything remotely like this.

I think of all the painfully careful documentation we do. The painfully (and I mean painful) fact checking we do and the attitude of our DA and ADA's are "prove it to me beyond a shadow of a doubt before we do anything else". Which, I may add, sometimes just pisses me off. There are times you just "know" the person is guilty. But knowing and proving are different beasts. Just as there are times you just "know" the person is lying through their teeth.

After hearing Thorne et al testify that they wear an ear piece so they can take questions (all unknowing to the child being interviewed) and "suggestions" from the police observing, I just had to run to our professional forensic interviewers and ask if they did the same.

You should have seen the look of shock on their faces. It was actually priceless. Not one of them, NOT ONE, would allow such a thing. The most common comment was, "we are not here to prove the police right, we are here to find the truth". That went hand in hand with "If the child does not bring it up, we cannot introduce it as it will taint the interview". Of course that all went along with long conversations about how correct forensic child interviews are done which I can say with all confidence, did not happen in this case.

As a Forensic Nurse, I do a basic interview while doing my exams (depending on the child's age and vocabulary). It is incredibly important that the Forensic nurse do this as we are the first line of defense for a child's emotional, mental and physical well being. It is also important as the story told us will be (should be) checked with later stories. This is true with adult victims as well.

For the SANE to testify that she never takes a history when doing a Ped's exam is simply unconscionable as well as extremely unprofessional. Her findings showed absolutely nothing out of the ordinary (you can check this yourself simply by reading the published literature). When I heard her testimony I must admit I was a bit shocked since I know what she was testifying to was NORMAL findings. I guess in Anderson's world any little girl who has a less than perfect Hymen MUST be sexually abused.

Let us add in these few tidbits which I am sure Dr. Anderson will address in later columns. Why, if they suspected Craft of child molestation, did they not confiscate her computer and other electronics. Why was the Wilson child not interviewed when she was in fact named by all three children? Why did they not interview the other 12 children that were at the Craft house on a DAILY basis. Not just not interview them, they didn't ask ANY of them a single question. The answer to that is stupidly simple, the kids would have pointed out (as they did under oath) that Lamb et al were lying. The kids testified that Lamb was RARELY at Tonya's house, the kids testified that Lamb did NOT spend the night on the night she claimed she was assaulted and in fact had left in a snit.Well we can't have 10 to 12 OTHER children ranging in age from 8 to 17 saying that Lamb is a liar, now can we. Hence Deal and crew never bothered to talk to them. Oh yes, he didn't' want to upset them emotionally. But it was ok with him to mentally and emotionally destroy at least 2 other children as I do NOT believe Lamb is anything other than a willing participant in this.

And let us not forget Angela Carroll.. You will LOVE her story. All I will say about her for now is, the story was SO OUT THERE that even Deal ran from it so you never even heard about THOSE interviews during the trial.

Part 2My belief is this. The Wilson's wanted Craft out of teaching. The whole, get even deal. This was planned and it is obvious it was planned. What they didn't count on was the drama queen Sandra Lamb and her progeny. They didn't count on Lamb calling in her good buddy Arnt and the ensuing insanity at the CAC and Greenhouse. Interesting tho, they managed to keep their little princess out of the mix even with other children naming her as well.

The Wilson's started all of this in their bid to get even with Craft. NO PARENT calls the cops because some kids are writing sex, kissing or x's and o's on the sidewalk. No parent starts calling other parents when this kind of chalk stuff happens and starts the "omg my kid has been sexually assaulted". No intelligent parent catches two 5 year olds playing doctor and 1. beats them with a belt for it and 2. claims it was sexual assault.

But the Wilson's did just that and tried to claim on the stand that as a first responder they are "mandated" by law to report this. Pardon me but.. BULLSHIT. They are the ground zero of this whole horrible affair.

I am so relieved to know that at least where you work, people do their jobs professionally, and reading your description of how your colleagues and associates conduct their jobs remind all of us how unprofessional the "professionals" of LMJC are!

By the way, I think it was the Kelly McDonald who beat her daughter with a belt upon catching her daughter and Tonya's daughter playing the "game". But, then Kelly McDonald called Sherri Wilson to talk about the incident.

Bill, you just can't make this stuff up can you? Looking forward to hearing all the infomation we haven't been privey to yet. Please tell me that the state bar is investigating these yahoos! I pray they will have consequences for their actions. Keep up the good work!

Great posts, Kerwyn. She is right; there is more stuff that we will be bringing out this summer that will further demonstrate not only that this case was a Big Lie, but that the principals pushing it all KNEW it was a lie.

Great post Kerwyn. I was wondering if you had seen the blog that is done by a SANE nurse? I got the impression that she believes the SANE nurse did nothing out of the ordinary and conducted herself appropriately. It was the defense that made her look bad.

I just read the WRCB account the day Deal took the stand. I was quite surprised that he didn't do any investigative work to check out accuser 1 was in fact at those parties when she said she had been. I thought that police were expected to corroborate the story like that. Which leads me to believe that these people thought that her lawyers would certainly plea bargain if they made it 22 counts. She certainly wouldn't risk everything to prove herself innocent. I am thrilled to say they were wrong.

You had written the following on Len Gregor: Gregor was the point man in the fabrication of the “hand rape” document, and even had the temerity to accuse the defense of lying when, in fact, he knew all along that Deal had fabricated the bogus document.

I wish I could state that I know the dates and procedures of all the discovery that took place in Tonya's case, but I must admit I do not. That said, I do know how it often works and a few details on how it worked in this case.

Normally it is the prosecutor that initially handles what is shared with the defense. It was reported that is what happened, the investigators would not share directly with Tonya's attorneys.

Closer to when a trial date is coming, it is fairly common that defense attorneys will be allowed to look through the papers or files of the investigators (depending upon the discovery rules of the state), which it was reported happened in this case also (as was reported by D-Lo in his complaint to federal authorities).

To be as exact as I can be on the date of when D-Lo reported the investigation files, D-Lo wrote;

"...a MONTH before trial, the Defense sent two attorneys to carefully pour over the entire Sheriff's Department file and tag and copy any and all material the attorneys thought may not have been turned over by the State up to that point."

So this would have been approximately February of 2010 at the earliest, before the court date was changed the last time.

The Investigative Summary of Det. Keith had been typed 7/27/08, almost two full years before the trial. In his paragraph on the interview in question, he ended it by referencing the "fabricated document"; "See file for interview summary"

The defense must have had some type of "interview summary" in hand at some point, or they would have been screaming for a copy. They would not have ALL missed what I noticed!! The prosecution should know what they had given them, or more so even what they had NOT given them, so there must be something the defense had that was presented as the "interview summary" referenced by Det. Keith. It should not be a secret the prosecution does not know about.

I just got back yesterday from camping and caught up on the comments here. Someone (thanks!) in their comment had a link to the Sheriff Summers interview. In that article the Sheriff had stated;" [Peters'] refusal re-sulted in him being taken into custody"

In previous articles he had stated Peters was never arrested or in custody!! Later in the article the Sheriff is quoted to have said;

“Judge Peters is under judicial protection at the moment, because in order for him to be suspended or removed from office, it has to be carried out by the Judicial Qualifications Commission,” Summers said. “At the same time, judge Peters shouldn’t display this kind of conduct just because he is at the moment protected.”

This Summers is classifying Peters as "protected". What an idiot. It's so simple that the ones who want to go after him, for whatever reason, just do not hold the authority to do such

Kerwin, you are right that sometimes prosecutors err so heavilly on the side of caution that people who are obviously guilty get off because there just isn't enough evidence to convict them. It's a hard yet thin line; sometimes people who are guilty are not tried when people who are innocent are sent to jail, based on evidence or lack thereof.

I was speaking with a new friend this weekend, an wonderful African American lady (one of the few here in Utah), about this very subject. She even mentioned the Tonya Craft case, so it's interesting to note that there are other people in Utah who have at least heard of the travesty that happened in North Georgia.

So, she told me of a case she and her husband personally witnessed. This all happened back in the 80s. A girl was being raped by her step-father, who was also raping her sister. He was a Vietnam veteran, and was telling her things like, "I killed whole families over there, so if you tell anyone, I'll kill you." She ultimately disclosed to my friend's husband, who was her Pathfinder leader. He was required to report this, and he did, and the guy was arrested, but somehow the guy was not prosecuted--something about his brother being a LDS bishop, and using family and church connections. So, he got off. The girl's mother was also being beaten by the guy, but she kept going back to him, but finally he did something so bad she woke up and left him; he held her at gun point, and there was a whole police standoff, and everything--he never was prosecuted for that either. Finally, a few years later the guy remarried and after an argument, the guy shot his new wife in the head, killing her. His family had used up all its juice, and he went to jail finally. But, that woman's life would have been spared had the police and DA's office really done it's job in the rape case or even DV case. In the end, the girl my friend's husband tried to help became a lesbian, because she was so fearful of men, and her sister married a man just like her step-father, who abused her and her children. So, like I said in a previous post, weeks ago, these advocacy centers COULD do great things to help victims, but in reality, many people who need help go un-helped and many people who are not really victims are made into victims in order for the centers to get more funds.

And, appearances can be very deceiving. The man (step-father) my friend was telling me about was able to quote scripture "better than anyone else I've ever met." If it ever comes out that there indeed was an adult abusing children that caused the Lamb and other girls to touch each other, I gurantee that it will be a great shock as to who it is, because it will be someone respectable and close to the victims. Tonya Craft was respectable, and it was a great shock, but in reality, she just wasn't close enough to the "victims," at least not the Lamb girl. The whole mentality that all child molesters are dirty old men with beards is a very wrong one. The truth is that it is rarely someone who is old, it is almost never someone dirty, and in more than 1/3 of cases it isn't even a man--there was something I read the other day about an 11 year old girl who was arrested because she raped 2 boys and a girl, the youngest serial rapist in Texas history, and it was a pre-pubescent girl!

Anon 4:07. In a tragic way, you are right in your thinking. For anyone to knowingly put a child through something like this makes them as much an abuser as if they actually committed the act. Evil lurks in their minds, evil they hide behind their 'I'm a Christian and go to church' attitude. So far as I'm concerned, having heard this from far too many people, Christians don't necessarily go to church, but everyone of them displays the attitude we've seen from Tonya throughout this whole case. It's their actions more than their repeated avowals of Christianity that makes them one.

KC, here is a bit of semantic unlocking, or rather unblocking, with regards to the word "Christian."

A Christian is anyone who claims to be a follower of the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. That is the simple semantic definition. However, just because one is a Christian, that does not make them an actual follower of His teachings. A Christian does not necessarilly believe in the divinity of Jesus. There are Ayrian Christians who believe Jesus was a mortal man. Not all Christians who believe Jesus to have been divine believe in the Trinity. There are Mormons who believe that Jesus was a son of god, but that that particular god is just one of many gods, and that we are all equal with Jesus (including satan himself), and that we mortal humans can become actual gods of our own planets if we live perfect lives (their catphrase is: "As man now is god once was, as god is man can become"--which is pure blasphemy in my humble opinion). There are Christians who believe that doing things in the name of Christ to other people is fulfilling God's will, even if those actions are directly in conflict with Jesus' teachings and the 10 Commandments. There are Christians who believe that nothing should be done that Christ himself would not do.

First John tells us, "Behold what manner of love the Father has given unto us, that we should be called the children of God!" So, a Christian believes oneself to be a child of God. How does this come to be? What separates a child of God from the rest? Paul's letters make repeated referrence to this, and he uses the term justification. Jesus himself said that, "I am the way, the truth and the life. Nobody comes to the Father except through me." Does this mean that nobody who has heard the name of Jesus is justified? Heaven forbid! David never heard the name, but we know that he will be in heaven. Nor did Abraham, and he will certainly be there. Paul, in talking about justification, says that by faith they were justified, and that their faith was counted to them as righteousness.

So what is faith? In the Gosple of John we read that anyone who believes Jesus shall not perish but shall receive eteral life--will be justified. So, is it enough to say, "I believe," to make one justified, to make one righteous? Absolutely not. Paul says that the righteous shall be justified by faith. So, faith must mean more than simply believing. Let me put it this way: Let's say I'm driving a speed boat. As I race along, I'm looking at my map of the coast. On the map I see that I have a plotted course that I have traveled. If I look to where that plotted course takes me if I continue on it, I see that there is a reef ahead. I believe that the reef exists. Now, does my belief in the existance of that reef keep me from crashing into it and drowning? Certainly not. If I truly believe that reef is there, I am going to turn away from my present course. But, I try to turn the wheel, and I find that the course does not change. I don't have the ability to pilot that boat to save myself. However, I do have an auto-pilot that I can engage that will move the boat the way it needs to be done to change course. But, in order to do that, I have to let go of the wheel. I then give up control, and let the autopilot save me. Let's say I have a friend behind me in a speedboat. Am I now, having changed course going to let him contine on? No. I am going to warn him and let him know how he can be saved.

In that parable, the map is God's Law. The law shows us where we have gone astray, and that the sure consequence of that is death. We therefore must correct our course to bring ourselves in line with God's law. But, we can't do that on our own. We are incapable of obeying God's law on our own. It is by wholling giving ourselves over to being directed by Christ that our lives can be changed. Paul says that we must sacfifice 'self' in order to be justified. So, having true faith means that we accept that we can never be righteous due to our own thoughts or actions, it is by letting Christ be our rigteousness that we are justified. Those good works, such as warning our friend, they are done not because we are so good of our own account, but because faith compells us to do what is right. People often do good works for entirely selfish reasons (because they want approval, fear the consequences of doing bad or an alterior motive). There will be many people missing when we get to heaven who we thought would be there, and when we review their case, we will find that their good works were not done because of faith, but out of selfishness. So, when we are here on this planet, we need to remember that we should not judge someone especially good or evil based upon their good works, because we do not know the reason for those works. And for that reason, it is not by our actions alone that we are judged, but by faith are we judged, and by grace that we are saved.

So, it is not really our actions that we are made Christians. It really is our avowals that make us a Christian. We say that we are a Christian. That makes us one. But being a Christian and being judged righteous are two very different things.

Lame, I understand your meaning and respect it, however, I can't equate people calling themselves Christians but acting in such a manner as those involved the Craft case did. The same thing with the Wade case and all other people railroaded into prison by these so called Christian men and women.

Yeah. Yeah. I know what the bible says, and believe me, my attitude got me in lots of trouble in Catholic school growing up, especially with one certain nun. But to me, calling oneself a Christian is not enough. We have to consistently and without thought act in a Christian way. No, I don't expect perfection, but then again, I don't expect someone to do as these people did and then march into church and act like saints. That burns me more than anything.I think it was dmk who mentioned way back that SL's daddy, French Newton, made statements that are completely biased and not entirely based in fact about people molested as a child. His statements were taken as fact by a preacher and said preacher revealed confidential information given to him. Thereby, whilst that particular church goes into a lot of radio sermonizing and invites folks to show as they are at church, I would never attend that church for the simple reason I believe it is run by hypocrites and fools, not Christians, no matter how much they pronounce themselves so. Did this attitude come up as a result of this trial? Nope. But the information I gleaned off this blog confirmed that feeling in my gut - and it wasn't gas.

What I am saying is that Christian is a man-made word. In fact, it was originally meant as a derogatory term. Anyone who says they are a Christian is a Christian, the same way that anyone who says they are a Rex Sox fan is a Sox fan. Does by saying they are a fan mean they really love the Sox and want them to win the World Series? Not necessarily, it could be a matter of convenience, to please a spouse, to fit in with a group, et cetera. But, to say you are a Jew doesn't make you a Jew. You must be circumcised. Paul actually discusses this, and says that by being circumcised in the heart we become Jews (or God's children).

I agree that there is a certain importance in identifying as a Christian, but the real importance is in identifying as a child of God. I know many people who are not christians who do good works and are generally good people. My point is, neither claiming to be a Christian nor doing good things makes a person a child of God, or necessarily a better "Christian." What makes a person "Christ-like" is submitting to God's will, and choosing good, not because "good" is popular, convenient, or fulfills a selfish desire, but because faith compells one to do it.

I know what you mean about christian schools with taskmasters. I went to christian schools through 9th grade, and had a few run-ins with people who didn't understand the importance God places on free will.

I found it most odd that Joal Henke testified that he never asked his son if Tonya abused him. Now excuse me...but if you REALLY believe your ex abused one child, you're sure as heck gonna at least ASK the other one if they have been hurt in any way.

It was like pulling teeth to get the younger one to say anything at all against her mom. The older son was WAY too wise to fall for those tricks. He would have ratted them out to his grandparents during visitation I suspect.... So, like the other dozen or so kids, they left him alone. BUT HE WAS HER SON!! This speaks VOLUMES!!!!!

Well the daughter really didn't testify to any wrongdoing on the part of her mother. She stated unequivocally both in interviews and on the stand that her mother merely put medicine on her; which Joal Henkle confirmed.

That's what is so revolting about Bill O'Reily and other morons in the media, when they say, "Even though her own daughter accused her of child molestation." Her own daughter did NOT accuse her of molesting her, unless there is something from court documents I have not yet seen.

I have an incredible level of admiration for the SANE you spoke of. That being said, she has not seen any of the documentation as I have and at first glance it looks nice and tidy. You have to see the documentation to see the glaring errors.

Ooltewah Mom,

Very very very very very (I mean VERY) rarely do molesters cross sex boundaries. They like boys or they like girls. Rarely do they like all of the above. There are those that will do so, but it is a rare occurrence. To add to that, it is extremely unusual for a molester to have access to so many children and not molest more and/or hit, abuse or alienate their victim (if it is not their own child). That just loses them their victim and they will groom that child rather than alienate them.

It just points to Lamb's ludicrous statements that Craft "hit her in the face hard every time her mommy pulled into the driveway". Of course mommy never noticed the slap mark on her face? right...

Kerwin, please don't think I'm trying to knock you down at all. I'm just trying to debunk a common misperception that ALL sex offenders are alike. Women who offend and men are not exactly alike. There's a study, “Perspectives on Female Sexual Offending in an Irish Context," which sheds light on this.

"The findings from the section exploring the characteristics of female sexual abusers and their victims revealed that boys and girls are equally likely to be the victims and the abuse tends to be interfamilial. There are large discrepancies between studies. Many argue that in general girls are more likely to be the victims of female perpetuated sexual abuse. Rudin et al.’s (1995) comparative study of male and female sex offenders revealed that 62% of the female perpetrators’ victims were female. Faller’s (1987) study revealed that over 64% of the victims of female perpetrators were female. However, Faller’s (1995) study showed that 50% of her sample of female perpetrators had abused both male and female children, 40% had abused females only and 10% had abused males only."

So, while women tend to abuse more girls than boys, less than half abused just one sex. The study goes on to state that women are far more likely than men to abuse victims of both sexes. So, in reality, if Tonya Craft was indeed molesting those girls, there was at least a 50% chance that she was abusing her son as well. So, Anon 6:55, you're right on the money.

I do have to disagree slightly, there was at least one other person in that courthouse who did/does that, a Mr David Craft. What a guy! To hear him speak about how he failed her and that he quit her, but realized that he loved her and could not live without her, THAT is as good a parable as any to represent repentance. He soooo easily could have said, "Yeah, I love her, but I love my dignity more, and I can find a younger, better looking woman," because, let's face it, being comfortable in my heterosexuality, I have no problem say ing that David Craft is a very handsome guy. Tonya and David are both beautiful looking people, and they come across as beutiful on the inside. Here's to them for giving love a second chance. You know, whether they make a movie about the Tonya Craft case or not, they should at least make a movie about the Tonya and David Craft story for the Hallmark Channel.

As per my 12:18 comment, I was thinking a few minutes ago while in the bathtub--sorry if I blinded anyone's mind's eye there--about the statistics that article used.

Any statistics regarding sexual preferences of female sex offenders is going to be skewed because of sexist attitudes towards female sex offenders. It is very likely that although as much as 64% of CONVICTED female sex offenders offend against girls, the majority of agrigate female sex abusers offend against boys. I could go on and on about how male victims of female-perpetrated sex abuse are not viewed as actual victims, and as such those crimes more often than not go un-reported, un-prosecuted, or very lightly-punnished. However, we've been all though that before. I will say that regardless, it is interesting that the statistics, as reported, show that both men and women prefer girls, further cementing my intention that if I ever have a daughter, I'm going to make her wear an outfit that has 100,000 volts of electricity circulating through it, and that if anyone touches her, they won't need to go to the electric chair, because they'd already be fried.

I think Bill was way to easy on that scoundrel House. For House had the ability to right many of the wrongs regardless of all the shenanigans that took place before the case went to trial. House could have ensured a fair trial and deliberately did not. He alone could have derailed this beast (and maybe he actually did by running such a Kangaroo court that the jurors could not trust the prosecution) but he chose to railroad an innocent defendant. He is a disgusting and dispicable human deserving much contempt. Again, he got off way too easy and I really hope for that county's sake that he is not reelected and moreover, barred from law.

Let us not forget, Victoria, that the esteemed Brian House represented Tonya's ex in TN during their contentious divorce. But, according to him, it was only for one hearing - and his name on the papers doesn't count. NOT! Even one hearing meant a conflict of interest and he never should have heard this case.

House really was and is a villain in this situation. It is one thing for a judge to be mistaken; it is quite another for a judge to be in the tank and openly so.

Furthermore, even while he was making outrageous rulings and trying to keep exculpatory evidence out of the courtroom, he continued to deny the obvious. I have no respect for him at all.

House is one of those people who realizes that he is in a position to make the rules as he goes along, and that the chances of being disciplined by the authorities almost is nil. When some are in that position, they are cautious and constantly making sure they are not stepping over the line and misusing their powers.

However, Outhouse has been the opposite kind of judge. He revels in doing injustice, which makes him one of the worst people on the planet.

Kerwin, I did get your point, and what I was saying is that women are more likely than men to molest victims of both sexes than are male offenders. I can think of at least 20 cases in the past two years where the woman's victims were both male and female. I can think of only two cases off the top of my head where a man abused both boys and girls.

Again, my goal in that post was not to make you feel bad or deminish you in any way. I just wanted to show that it is a misconception that all women who abuse children abuse victims of just one gender, and that when they said Ms Craft molested those girls, if they really did believe she did it, which I am increasingly coming to understand that they did not ever believe it, then they showed themselves yet again to be wholly incompetent by not also interviewing her son.

About Me

I teach economics at Frostburg State University in Frostburg, Maryland. We are located on the Allegheny Plateau, and we have cool summers and tough winters.
I am the single father of five children, four of them adopted from overseas and I have two grandchildren. My family and I are members of Faith Presbyterian Church (PCA).